




m 






I" 















Class 

Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



"AROUND THE CIRCLE" 



Will be sent free upon 
application to 

J. W. SLOSSON, T. W. BECKER, 

Acting General Agent, Acting General Agent, 

236 Clark Street, CHICAGO. 379 Broadway, New YORK. 

W. M. RANK, H. V. LUYSTER, 

General Agent, T. P. A., D. & R. G. R. R., 

No. 219 Front St , San FRANCISCO. 1008 Broadway, KANSAS CiTY, Mo. 

W. F. TIBBITS, W. R. PECK, 

T. P. A., D. & R. G. R. R., City Pass. Agt., D. & R. G. R. R., 

Denver, Colo. 1662 Larimer St., Denver, Colo. 

W. J. SHOTWELL, F. A. WADLEIGH, 

General Agent, Asst. Gen. Passenger Agent, 

Salt Lake City, Utah. Denver, Colo. 



E. T. JEFFERY, OTTO MEARS, 

Pres. & Gen. Mgr. D. &. R. G. R. R. Pres. &. Gen. Mgr. R. G. S. R. R. 
Denver, Colo. Denver, Colo. 



A S. HUGHES, S. K. HOOPER, 

Traffic Manager, Gen. Pass. Agent, 

Denver, Colo. Denver, Colo. 




Ri)UND 




eA elournpy which Pom|3rise5 mor? HoM and Alajni^icent (Scenery 
Thaa la comjsajsed in any other one JHouani /Irtilei 
of Travel in The known TUorW 



TRE5E^lTgD BY THE^ 

Passenger -Department of the Denver 5 RioGrande RR- 




Copyright, 1892, 
By S. K. hooper, General Passenger Agent, Denver, Colo. 
Denver & Rio Grande R. R. 



KNIGHT, Leonard & Co., Printers 
Cmicaco. 



INTRODUCTION. 




HE TOURIST in search of grand and beautiful 
scenery finds an embarrassment of riches in Colo- 
rado. Among so many attractions he is at a loss 
which to choose, and having made a choice, he is 
frequently troubled with doubts as to the wisdom 
of his selection. Recognizing this fact, the Pas- 
senger Department of the Denver & Rio Grande 
Railroad, after a careful and thoughtful discus- 
sion of the situation, has decided to make a 
selection of a tour that shall embrace the most varied and 
picturesque scenery to be found on the line of any railroad 
in the world, included in a single trip, at a moderate cost. 
The excursion "Around the Circle" presents all these 
advantages. It can be made comfortably in four days, 
and no portion of the journey has to be retraced, thus 
affording constant variety and keeping the interest of the 
tourist pleasurably excited to the end. It is a remarkable 
lact that this journey, if pursued in the line laid down in the following pages, 
is cumulative in its character. Like- a well-constructed drama, the interest 
grows stronger and stronger with each stage of its progress, until the final 
scene, which is an overpowering climax of grandeur and majesty. The 
points of interest on the trip " Around the Circle" are practically innumer- 
able. The observing tourist will discover many beauties and attractions 
which are not described by the writer.. No attempt has been made to 
include all that is worthy of mention. Only those scenes which are of tran- 
scendent interest have been touched upon, and in the pages which follow, 
the reader will only obtain a bird's-eye vi6w of the tour. This being the 
case, the tourist can readily imagine what pleasure lies before him. In this 
instance distance docs not lend enchantment to the view. To penetrate the 
heart of the majestic mountains, to cross and re-cross the great Rocky 
Range, to gaze with breathless awe into the defiles of abysmal chasms, and 
to behold with reverent, upturned eyes the ancient summits of heaven- 
defying snow-crowned peaks, are privileges that familiarity can never make 
commonplace nor belittle. Such privileges are granted to the tourists, 
Around the Circle," and with full confidence that he who takes the journey: 
will find his brightest anticipations more than realised, this little book is 
placed before him. 




SEVEN FALLS — CHEYENNE CANON. 




"AROUND THE CIRCLE." 



HE journey "Around the Circle" on the Denver and Rio 
Grande Railroad, from Denver to Silverton, Silverton to 
Ouray, and return to Denver, or via the Denver & Rio Grande 
to Durango, thence over the Rio Grande Southern R. R. to 
Ridgway and return to Denver, briefly described in the 
following pages, comprises more noted and magnificent scenery 
than any other trip of similar length in the known world- 
Piercing the heart of the Rocky Mountains, crossing and recross- 
ing the "Great Divide " between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes ; 
penetrating five canons, each of w^hich is a world's wonder, and no 
two having the same characteristics ; climbing four mountain passes 
by rail and one by stage ; achieving grades of 211 feet to the mile ; 
reaching heights 11,000 feet above the sea; penetrating gorges 
whose walls soar a half mile in perpendicular cliffs above the track ; 
traversing fertile and picturesque valleys, watered by historic rivers ; 
passing through Indian reservations and in sight of frontier cantonments of 
National troops ; pausing in the midst of mining camps, where gold and sil- 
ver and coal and copper are being taken from subterranean recesses ; in a 
word, making the traveler familiar with peaks and plains, lakes and rivers, 
canons and passes, mountains and mesas ; with strange scenes in nature, 
aboriginal types of men, wonders of science and novel forms of art ; surely 
no other journey of a thousand miles can so instruct, entertain, entrance and 
thrill the traveler as this trip " Around the Circle." 

Every mile of the journey has its especial attraction. A thousand objects 
"if interest present themselves to view in rapid succession. A thousand novel 
impressions photograph themselves upon the mind, a thousand landscapes of 
wonderful and bewitching beauty beyond the power of pen or pencil, or brush 
or camera to depict, can be seen from the windows of the car. Colorado is a 
land of wonders, a land of surprises, a land of sharp and wonderful contrasts. 
Take Toltec Gorge as a central point, and with a radius of two hundred miles 
describe a circle. Within the confines of that magic ring will bo found more 
grand and wonderful scenery accessible by rail than within any similar circle 
swept anywhere on the surface of the world ! Pilgrimages are made across 
the seas to behold the beauties of some one famed object '^he Via Mala 

5 



Around the Circle." 



7 



attracts one, Mount Blanc another, the Colosseum a third, and the tourist, 
after all his great expenditure of time and money, comes away with one 
impression. 

It ought to be the fashion for Americans to see something of their own 
country before they rush across the ocean to gaze at the w-onders ot the Old 
World. It is a good omen that many Americans appreciate this fact and are 
turning their attention to the unsurpassed scenery of their native land. The 
" Via Mala" is dwarfed into insignificance when compared with the " Royal 
Gorge." The hundreds of peaks among the Rockies, reaching an altitude of 
over fourteen thousand feet, should compensate one for the solitary grandeur 
of " Mount Blanc," while the ruins of the " Cliff Dwellings" tell of a race 
older than that which built the Colosseum." 

It would be impossible within the pages allotted for this book to give an 
adequate description of even half the noteworthy things to be seen in a jour- 
ney " Around the Circle." All that can be attempted is briefly to charac- 
terize a few of the most remarkable objects of interest, objects which deserve 
to rank with the greatest natural attractions of the world, and most of which 
have already become known as marvels, to behold which would amply repay 
a journey across the continent. 

The trip naturally begins at Denver, the great railroad center of Colorado, 
and a city of more than ordinary attractiveness. 

For a hundred and twenty miles the railroad extending to the south 
follows the front range of the Rocky Mountains, which is in plain view on the 
right and to the west. After Denver has been left behind, the tourist can 
see from the car window the snow- covered pinnacles of Long's, James', 
Gray's and Pike's Peaks standing in a wilderness of lesser mountains. Soon 
a remarkable promontory rising from the summit of a conical hill and pre- 
senting the appearance of an ancient round tower, attracts the tourist's 
attention. This is Castle Rock, under whose battlements nestles a pictur- 
esque village of the same name. Beyond Castle Rock the country becomes 
more broken, the ascent being now begun at what is known as the Divide, a 
range of hills extending eastward into the plains and rising to an elevation of 
7,500 feet. Curious formations of sandstone frequently occur, the most nota- 
ble of which is called Casa Blanca, and can be seen on the right between 
Greenland station and Palmer Lake. This enormous monolith is a thousand 
feet in length and two hundred feet high, and on account of its size, its snow- 
white walls and its castellated appearance, can hardly fail to attract atten- 
tion. On the summit of the Divide is Palmer Lake, a lovely little sheet of 
water, so equally poised that its waters flow through outlets northward into 
the Platte and southward into the Arkansas. Here has been established a 
pleasant summer resort, and here also is Glen Park, where assemblies arc 



'Around the Circle." 



9 



held each summer, modeled on those of the well-known Chautauqua. Be- 
yond Palmer Lake, on both sides of the track, may be seen wonderful forma- 
tions of brilliant red sandstone, taking the form of castles, fortifications and 
towers. One of the most striking of these has been named Phoebe's Arch, 
being a great castle-like upthrust of glowing red rock, through which there is a 
perfect natural archway. The descent of the Divide to Colorado Springs is 
through an interesting country, the mountains to the west and plains extend- 
ing to the east. As Colorado Springs are approached, the great gateway to the 
Garden of the Gods can be seen to the right, and Pike's Peak, rising to an 
altitude of 14,147 feet, its summit white with snow, attracts instant attention. 
A side trip can here be taken, at nominal expense, to Manitou Springs, five 
miles distant, the famous watering place of the west, a pleasure resort pos- 
sessing wonderful effervescent and medicinal springs, and surrounded by more 
objects of scenic interest than any resort of a like character in the old or new 
world, including " Garden of the Gods," Glen Eyre," " Red Rock Canon," 
''Crystal Park," " Ruxton's Glen," ''William's Canon," "Manitou Grand 
Caverns," " Cave of the Winds," " Ute Pass," "Rainbow Falls,'" '-Bear 
Creek Canon," "Cheyenne Mountain," "Pike's Peak," and hundreds of 
others, to name which space is lacking. 

The cogwheel railroad to the summit of Pike's Peak is now completed and 
in operation, and is the most novel railway in the world. When it reaches 
its objective point above the clouds, at a height of 14,147 feet above sea level, 
it renders almost insignificant by comparison the famous cogway up Mount 
Washington, and the inclined railway up the Rhigi in Switzerland. 

The route is the most direct possible, and about nine miles in length. 
The track is the same as that of the Mount Washington line, standard gauge, 
with an eight -inch cast-steel cog rail. The cars are set on low trucks to pre- 
vent them from becoming top-heavy on curves or in a high wind. This is 
almost an unnecessary precaution, as it is not expected to make the ascent 
in less than two hours. On the ascent the cars are pushed by the engine, 
but on the descent the locomotive is placed in front. The engine achieves 
the tremendous grades by means of a cog wheel, which fits into the cog rail. 
This mountain road is a great attraction, added to the many which already 
render Manitou the greatest summer resort of the mid-continental region. 

The run from Colorado Springs to Pueblo is down the valley of a pretty 
little stream, the Fountaine qui Bouille, along whose banks are situated rich 
farms, or as they are universally termed in the west, " ranches," on which 
large crops are grown through the medium of irrigation. A hundred miles 
to the westward may be seen the faint blue outlines of the Greenhorn range 
of mountains, while to the eastward stretch the plains, the view of which is 
limited only by the horizon. Pueblo is the great manufacturing city of cen- 



'Around the Circle." 



II 



tral Colorado. It has one of the largest steel manufactories in the world, 
and a number of extensive smelters. Its close proximity to coal and iron 
mines, and the fact that it has become a railroad center of much importance, 
makes the future of the city exceedingly bright in promise. With a popula- 
tion of over 20,000. constantly increasing, and with the energy and push of its 
citizens, it cannot fail of achieving the greatest prosperity. 

From Pueblo, 120 miles distant from Denver, the journey is continued to 
the south, still across a level country, and to the left the Spanish peaks soon 
rise to view. These mountains possess a peculiar attraction, rising, as they 
do, directly from the plain in symmetrical, conical outlines, and reaching an 
altitude respectively of 13,620 and 12,720 feet. The Indians, with a touch of 
instinctive poetry, named these mountains " Wahatoya," or Twin Breasts. 

Shortly after sighting the Spanish Peaks, the ascent of Veta Pass is begun 
The ascent of this famous pass is one of the great engineering achieve- 
ments ot the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The line follows the ravine 
formed by a little stream. La Veta Mountain rising to the right. At the head 
of this gulch is the wonderful " Mule-Shoe Curve," the sharpest curve of the 
kind known in railroad engineering. In the center of the bend is a bridge, 
and the sparkling waters of the mountain stream can be seen flashing and 
foaming in their rocky bed below. Standing on the rear platform of the Pull- 
man car as the train rounds the curve, the tourist can see the fireman and 
engineer attending to their duties. From this point the ascent of Dump 
Mountain begins, rocks and precipitous escarpments of shaley soil to the 
right and perpendicular cliffs and chasms to the left. The ascent is slowly 
made, two great Mogul engines urging their iron sinews to the giant task. 
The view to the eastward is one of great extent and magnificence. The plains 
stretch onward to the dim horizon line like a gently undulating ocean, from 
which rise the twin cones of " Wahatoya," strangely fascinating in their sym- 
metrical beauty. At the summit of the pass the railroad reaches an elevation 
of 9,393 feet above the sea. 

Veta Mountain is to the right as the ascent of the pass is made, and rises 
with smooth sides and splintered pinnacles to a height of 1 1,176 feet above the 
sea level. The stupendous proportions of this mountain, the illimitable ex- 
panse of planes, the symmetrical cones of the Spanish Peaks, present a pic- 
ture upon which it is a never-ceasing delight for the eye to dwell. The train 
rolls steadily forward on its winding course, at last reaching the apex, glides 
into the timber and halts at the handsome stone station over 9,000 feet above 
the level of the distant sea. The downward journey is past Sierra Blanca and 
old Fort Garland, and through that pastoral and picturesque valley known, as 
San Luis Park. 

At Placer one can say that the descent of Veta Pass has been accom- 



Around the Circle." 



13 



plished, though it is still all down grade to Alamosa. This little town is situ- 
ated on the eastern border of the San Luis Valley and at the western extrem- 
ity of La Veta Pass. 

From Alamosa station a magnificent view of Blanca is obtained, and this 
majestic mountain, with its triple peaks capped with snow, and two-thirds 
of its height above timber line, presents a noble and impressive spectacle. 
To the north and south, silhouetted against a sky of perfect azure, are the 
serrated pinnacles of the Sangre de Christo range. It would be difficult to 
find, even in this land of peaks, a more impressive mountain view than that 
obtained during the traversing of the San Luis Valley, on the eastern rim of 
which Garland Station, the site of old Fort Garland, rests. Here is a park 
7,500 feet above sea level, surrounded on all sides by ranges of rugged mount- 
ains whose summits are whitened with perpetual snow. San Luis Park 
has an area larger than Connecticut, watered plentifully by mountain streams 
and traversed by the historic and beautiful Rio Grande del Norte. The soil 
of this valley is fertile, and through the medium of irrigation the park is 
rapidly becoming a great agricultural region. 

From Pueblo the line diverges and the tourist may go via Veta Pass as 
described above, or to Salida, and thence through the Poncha Pass to Villa 
Grove and down through the beautiful San Luis Valley to Alamosa, noted 
for its fine farms and phenomenal yield of agricultural products. From the 
point named above there is a tangent of fifty-two miles and the San Luis 
Valley portion is a straight line through one of the most fruitful and beauti- 
ful sections of the State. 

From Alamosa a delightful side trip can be taken to the Hot Springs at 
Wagon Wheel Gap, and to the new and already famous mining camp, 
Creede, for which a reduced rate will be given. A word about this wonderful 
health and pleasure resort will not be out of place here. As the Gap is ap- 
proached the valley narrows until the river is hemmed in between massive 
walls of solid rock which rise to such a height on either side as to throw the 
passage into twilight shadow. The river rushes roaring down over gleaming 
gravel or precipitous ledges. Progressing, the scene becomes wilder and 
more romantic, until at last the waters of the Rio Grande pour through a cleft 
in the rocks just wide enough to allow the construction of a road along the 
river's edge. On the right, as one enters, tower cliffs to a tremendous height, 
suggestive in their appearance of the Palisades of the Hudson. On the left 
rises the round shoulder of a massive mountain. The vast wall is unbroken 
for more than half a mile, its crest presenting an almost unserrated sky line. 
Once through the Gap, the traveler, looking toward the south, sees a vaJley 
encroached upon and surrounded by hills 

"Bathed iu the tenderest purple of distance, 
Tinted and shadowed by pencils of air." 



SOUTH WILLOW CANON, CREEDE, gOLO, 



" Around the Circle." 



15 



Here is an old stage station, a primitive and picturesque structure of hewn 
logs, made cool and inviting by wide-roofed verandahs. Not a hundred feet 
away rolls the Rio Grande river, swarming with trout. A drive of a mile 
along a winding road, each turn in which reveals new scenic beauties, brings 
the tourist to the famous springs. The medicinal qualities of the waters, 
both of the cold and hot springs, have been thoroughly tested and proved 
equal, if not superior, to the Hot Springs of Arkansas. 

Ten miles beyond Wagon Wheel Gap is Creede; nothing yesterday, a 
city of seven thousand people to-day. Here is Colorado's newest and richest 
mining camp, bustling with all the activity of an older eastern city. Situated 
in the heart of a canon and extending through it and widening out on to the 
less precipitous hills below, composed of buildings of all kinds, from the 
temporary " shack" of the prospector to the more pretentious brick store. 
The mountain side dotted with innumerable prospect holes, with an occa- 
sional large building of unpainted pine, rising from which is a volume of 
steam and smoke giving ocular evidence of the presence of a mine of more 
than ordinary interest and value. To the tourist desirmg to combine busi- 
ness with pleasure, here is the opportunity to buy what at present seems only 
"a hole in the ground," but which may some day develop into a mint within 
Itself. 

Leaving Alamosa and continuing the circle tour, after crossing San Luis 
Park, and just before reaching Toltec Tunnel, a sharp curve takes the train 
into a nook among the hills. To the left are great monumental and fantastic 
forms of rock, while to the right are cliffs rising to a height of five or six hun- 
dred feet above the track. From the quaint and curious formations which rise 
to the left as this bend is rounded, it has been named Phantom Curve. In 
half an hour Toltec Tunnel is reached, the great peculiarity of which is that 
it pierces the top of a mountain instead of its base. For six hundred feet it 
has been blasted through the living rock, and such is its solidity that no ma- 
sonry is needed to support the superincumbent rock masses above. When 
the train emerges from the tunnel it rolls out upon a bridge of trestlework set 
like a balcony against the wall of stone. Beneath, to the left, is Toltec 
Gorge. The traveler looks down fifteen hundred feet and, glancing upward, 
sees the opposite wall of the gorge rising a thousand feet above him. The 
scene is one of the most thrilling and unique in the whole journey " Around 
the Circle." Below, at the bottom of the gorge, swirls and dashes a little 
stream, whose waters are churned into sno;v-white foam, and the noise of 
whose progress comes faintly to the ear, borne upward from those tremendous 
depths. 

An object of interest to all visitors to Toltec Gorge is the Garfield Memo- 
rial, a beautiful monument of granite, raised by the National Association of 



''Around the Circle." 



17 



General Passenger Agents, who held service at this spot on the 26th day of 
September, 1 881, at the time President Garfield was being buried at Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

At Cumbres, the summit of the Cumbres range of mountains, is reached 
an elevation of 10,115 feet, the journey of the descent is a trip fraught 
with great variety of scenery and abounding in interest. Here may be seen 
mountain meadows lush with vegetation, the surrounding hills being heavily 
timbered and abounding in game. 

At Ignacio the Indian reservation is entered, and the rude tepees of the 
Southern Utes cin be seen pitched along the banks of the Rio de las Florida. 
Occasionally a glimpse can be caught of a stolid brave, tricked out in all his 
savage finery, gazing fixedly at the train as it speeds by. Frequently there is 
quite a little group of these aborigines at the station, and they are always 
ready to exchange bows and arrows, trophies of the chase, or specimens of 
their rude handiwork in return for very hard cash. 

From Durango the tourist has the choice of two routes to complete the 
Circle" tour; either via the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, through the 
Mancos Valley, the Lost Canon, the Valley of the Dolores and the Dolores 
Canon to Rico, over the Lizard Head Pass by Trout Lake and Telluride, down 
the San Miguel and Leopard Creek to Ridgway ; or via the Denver & Rio 
Grande, through the Animas Canon to Silverton, over the Rainbow Route 
(Silverton Railroad) to Ironton, and thence over the famous Ironton and Ouray 
Stage Road to Ouray. 

RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN ROUTE. 

Leaving Durango via the Rio Grande Southern line, the tourist is whisked 
across the Rio de Las Animas up Lightner Creek, past the silver and gold 
smelters with their seething furnaces and smoke and dust -begrimed work- 
men, and shortly past the famous coal banks where the black diamond is dug 
from the bowels of Mother Earth, and from there hauled to the smelters 
where it is used for the reduction and refining of its more exalted, but not 
more useful brethren. 

Up through the valley the train speeds along among huge pines which thus 
far have escaped the woodman's axe, and which will be free from such inva- 
sion as long as Uncle Sam claims this particular spot as the especial reserva- 
tion for the military post at old Fort Lewis. 

From Fort Lewis the line passes through seemingly endless forests of pine 
trees, and after the reservation is passed an occasional saw-mill is sighted 
from its emitting unearthly screeches, which the knowing ones say is merely 
the head sawyer sharpening up. , Descending the mountain into the valley, 



CLIFF DWELLERS. 



Around the Circle." 



19 



the beholder looks out on a broad expanse of fertile, well-watered country, 
surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains, and dotted with the 
rancheros of the hardy pioneer, who has been well repaid for his daring in 
locating in this far-away but beautiful valley, by its productiveness, and now 
that the railroad, that greatest of all civilizers, has come, he has abundant 
opportunities for the disposition of his produce. 

In the center of this valley lies Mancos station, which is the junction with 
the main line of the proposed extension of this road into Arizona. 

To the south of Mancos station within a day's drive, and easily accessible, 
are the ruins of the strange habitations of an extinct and mysterious race 
known as the Cliff Dwellers. To those seeking curiosities and wonders, the 
great Caiion of the Mancos, the great Montezuma Valley, the McElmo 
Canon, the Lower Animas Valley and the Chaco Canon are the wonderlands 
of the world. They contain thousands of homes, and a town of the ancient 
race of Mound Builders and *' Cliff Dwellers," that has attracted the 
curious ever since the discovery of America. The great Mancos Canon con- 
tains hundreds of these homes which were built and occupied hundreds of 
years ago. Yet many of them are in a good state of preservation, and in 
them have been found hundreds of specimens of pottery, and implements of 
husbandry and warfare. This caiion is twenty miles south of Mancos, over a 
good wagon road. The canon is cut through Mesa Verda, a distance of 
thirty miles, and the walls on either side rise to a perpendicular height of two 
thousand feet. These cliff dwellings are built in the sides of this caiion, as 
shown in the illustration. Fifteen miles farther west from the Mancos is sit- 
uated the great Montezuma Valley, where thousands of fine specimens of pot- 
tery have been found among the ruins of that ancient people. On the west 
side of this valley is the great McElmo Canon, also full of the ancient homes 
of the '* Cliff Dwellers." Thirty-five miles south of Durango, in the valley of 
the Animas, are some extensive ruins of the Aztecs, and fifty miles further 
south are the wonderful ruins in the Cacho Canon. These ancient Pueblos 
are, without doubt, the most extensive and the best preserved of any in the 
United States. Of these Prof. Hayden, in his report of the Geological Survey 
of the United States for the year 1S66, says: The great ruins in the Cacho 
Canon are pre-eminently the finest examples of the works of the unknown 
builders to be found north of the seat of ancient Aztec Empire in Mexico." 
There are eleven extensive Pueblos in this canon, nearly all in a good state 
of preservation, and their appearance indicates that they were once the home 
of fifteen hundred to three thousand people each. They are the most ac- 
cessible from Mancos of any point on the line of railroads. From the thousands 
of ruins of cities, towns and families found throughout this great San Juan 
Valley, it is evident that once this great valley was the home of hundreds of 



" Around the Circle." 



21 



thousands of this extinct race. That they were a peaceful and agricultural 
race of people is evidenced by the large number of their implements of hus- 
bandry and specimens of corn and beans found in these ruins, besides irrigat- 
ing ditches and reservoirs for the storage of water. 

Leaving Mancos, the road winds up the sloping sides ot a flat-topped 
mountain, and there on its summit, among huge pines centuries old, bubbles 
up a clear, cold spring of sparkling water, forming the stream that flows down 
through the beautiful Lost Canon, and is called by the unpoetic name of 
" Lost Canon Creek." 

Lost Canon is a novelty in itself, as its sides are densely wooded and softly 
carpeted with a thick bed of moss and leaves, beautifully colored by millions 
of Colorado wild flowers whose delicate beauty is unrivaled. 

Emerging from Lost Canon the traveler is whirled up to the beautiful val- 
ley of the Dolores River, with its many ranches and farms, past the town of the 
same name. Off to the left, flowing to the eastward, comes bubbling down the 
mountain side into the larger river, the West Dolores, and no more famous or 
prolific trout stream exists than this. 

Continuing on up the main river, the valley begins to narrow down, until we 
are once more within the walls of a cafion which takes its name from the 
stream flowing through it. While this canon is not particularly deep, its nat- 
ural beauties are manifold and are sure to make a lasting and delightful im- 
pression on the beholder. 

Rushing out of the cafion the tourist is now landed at Rico. Rico is one 
of the most important mining towns of the State, whose mines dot the moun- 
tain sides, and whose product is packed in the cars on the backs of the ever- 
patient and faithful burro, without which no mining camp can be complete. 
The town is located in what was at one time the crater of a large volcano. 
Precipitous mountains with poetic names arise upon all sides of it, gradually 
widening, until by describing a circle of their summits they appear as the top 
of a huge funnel. Among them is the famous Telescope Mountain, a freak of 
nature only to be seen to form a proper realization of the aptness of its name. 
The place has much of historic interest, as evidences of early Spanish dis- 
coveries are found on many sides. 

Leaving Rico, the line continues up the Dolores, which grows smaller and 
smaller, until it becomes a mere silver thread winding in and out among huge 
rocks and boulders. Thirteen miles north of Rico, and after climbing many 
miles of three and four per cent, grades, the summit of the Lizard Head Pass 
is reached at an elevation of nearly i i,oco feet. From the summit and to the 
left will be seen the Lizard Head, a peculiar rock formation capping a tall, 
bare mountain. This rock derives its name from its resemblaace to the head 
of a mountain lizard, though at the same time it may be said to resemble the 
shaft of some large monument. 



"Around the Circle." 



23 



Descending the pass through the mountain gorges over rushing mountain 
streams, one finds one's self at Trout Lake. No more graphic description of 
this sheet of beautiful blue water can be given than a verse from a poem by 
" H. H." 

"The mountain's wall in the water; 

It looks like a great blue cup ; 
And the sky looks like another 

Turned over, bottom side up." 

Here the sport-inclined tourist may spend a few days, for the lake is in- 
habited by thousands and thousands of mountain trout. 

Shortly after leaving Trout Lake, the famous Ophir Loop is passed. Here 
the skill of the engineer was taxed to its utmost, for the track winds in zig-zags 
down the mountain side, rushing through a deep cut here, over a mountain 
torrent and a high bridge there, darting around sharp curv^es, in and out of 
snowsheds, until on the opposite mountain and high above us is to be seen a 
line of freshly-turned earth, which the knowing ones say is the track over 
which we have just passed. 

From Vance Junction, a side trip of ten miles, which will well repay the 
tourist, can be made to Telluride, a mining town of some 2,500 inhabitants, 
nestling among snow-capped mountains, rising to stupendous heights and rich 
in gold and silver. 

From Vance Junction the journey is continued down the San Miguel River, 
past Placerville, until the river leaves the rail, and again we commence to go 
up ; this time over the Dallas Divide. This pass resembles Marshall Pass, 
though not quite so long. After reaching the summit, the line runs down the 
eastern slope along Leopard Creek, high above it on the moutain side, giving 
a most magnificent view of the Uncomphagre Range to the south with its 
gentle slopes softly colored by the deep, dark foliage of dense pine and fir 
forests, gradually rising until the mountains develop into a huge mass of 
shattered pinnacles, their topmost points covered with the everlasting snow. 

Arriving at Ridgway, a city of some 1,500 inhabitants, the journey is 
again resumed on the original route via the Denver tk Rio Grande. 

THE RAINBOW ROUTE. 

From Durango, the metropolis of the San Juan, to Silverton the scenery is 
of surpassing grandeur and beauty. The railroad follows up the course of the 
Animas River (to which the Spaniards gave the musical but melancholy title 
of Rio de las Animas Ferdidas," or River of Lost Souls), until the pictur- 
esque mining town of Silverton is reached. The valley of the Animas is 
traversed before the canon is reached, and the traveler's eyes are delighted 



Around the Circle." 



25 



with succeeding scenes of sylvan beauty. To the right is the river, beyond 
which rise the hills; to the left are mountains, increasing in rugged contour as 
the advance is made ; between the track and the river are cultivated fields 
and cosy farmhouses, while evidences of peace, prosperity and plenty are to 
be seen on every hand. Nine miles above Durango, Trimble Hot Springs 
are reached. The spacious hotel stands within a hundred yards of the road 
to the left of the track. Here are medicinal hot springs of great curative 
value, and here, in the season, gather invahds and pleasure seekers to drink 
the waters and enjoy the delights of this charming resort. Leaving the 
springs behind, the train speeds up the valley, which gradually narrows as 
the advance is made; the ascending grade becomes steeper, the hills close in, 
and soon the view is restricted to the rocky gorge within whose depths the 
raging waters of the Animas sway and swirl. 

Animas Canon has characteristics peculiarly its own. The railroad does 
not follow the bed of the stream, but clings to the cliffs midway of their 
height; and a glance from the car window gives one the impression of a view 
from a balloon. Below, a thousand feet, are the waters of the river — in places, 
white with foam; in quiet coves, green as ocean's depths. Above, five hun- 
dred feet, climb the combing cliffs, to which cling pines and hemlocks. The 
canon here is a mere fissure in the mountain's heart, so narrow that one can 
easily toss a stone across and send it bounding down the side of the opposing 
rock wall until it falls into the waters of the river coursing through the abyss 
below. Emerging from this wonderful chasm, the bed of the gorge rises until 
the roadway is but a few feet above the level of the stream. The close, con- 
fining and towering walls of rock are replaced by mountains of supreme 
height. The Needles, which are among the most peculiar and striking of the 
Rockies, thrust their sharp and splintered peaks into the regions of eternal 
frost. 

Elk Park is a quiet little nook in the midst of the range, with vistas of 
meadows and groves of pines, a spot which would furnish the artist many a 
subject for hiscanvass. 

At the end of Elk Park stands Garfield Peak, lifting its summit a mile 
above the track. Beyond are marshaled the everlasting mountains, and 
through them for miles extends, in varying beauty and grandeur, the canon 
of the Animas, PVequent waterfalls glitter in the sunlight, leaping from crag 
to crag, only to lose themselves at last in the ontlowing river. Emerging 
finally from this environment of crowding cliffs, the train sweeps into Baker's 
Park and arrives at Silverton in the heart of the San Juan. 

Silverton is interesting, both from its picturesque position and from the 
fact that it is a mining town. The mountains by which it is surrounded on 
all sides are honeycombed with the shafts and tunnels of innumerable mines. 



Around the Circle." 



27 



Sultan Mountain, which overlooks the town, is a noble and impressive eleva- 
tion, and adds to the grandeur of the scene by its regal presence. 

From Silverton the journey " Around the Circle" is continued by taking 
the Silverton Railway, a road constructed up the difficult grades of Red 
Mountain, and doing an immense business in the handling of ores which are 
taken from these rich deposits ; also employed in the transportation of pas- 
sengers. This wonderful road owes its construction to the genius, daring and 
wealth of one man, Mr. Otto Mears, who has for years been the " pathfinder" 
of the San Juan region, building toll roads and opening the gates of prosperity 
to the many mining towns of this mountainous country. He is the sole owner 
of the road, and has conquered engineering difficulties of the most astound- 
ing character. The line does not as yet bridge the gap between Silverton 
and Ouray, and from Ironton, its terminus, stages carry tourists over the 
mountains to the latter point, where the trip is resumed by the Denver & Rio 
Grande Railroad. 

The stage ride forms one df the most attractive features of this most at- 
tractive journey. Lasting only two hours, passing over the summits of ranges 
and through the depths of canons, the tourist will find this a welcome varia- 
tion to his method of travel and a great relief and recreation. The old fash- 
ioned stage, with all its romantic associations, is rapidly becoming a thing of 
the past. A year or two more and it will have disappeared, except m rare in- 
stances, from Colorado. Here, in the midst of some of the grandest scenery 
on the continent, the blue sky above and the fresh, pure, exhilirating moun- 
tain air sending the blood bounding through one's veins, to clamber into a 
Concord coach and be whirled along a splendidly-constructed road, costing in 
some instances $40,000 a mile in its construction, to behold the grandest of 
Nature's handiwork, and to be in such close communion with the everlasting 
hills, is surely a novel and delightful experience. 

The scenery on this journey between Silverton and Ouray is of the great- 
est magnificence. This is especially true of that portion of the route trav- 
ersed by stage. The Silverton and Ouray toll road has long been noted for its 
attractions in the way of scenery, the triangular mass of Mount Abraham's 
towers to the left, while the road winds around the curves of the hills with the 
sinuosity of a mountain brook. The scene from the bridge over Bear Creek 
is one which once beheld can never be forgotten. Directly under the bridge 
plunges a cataract to a depth of 253 feet, forming a most noteworthy and im- 
pressive scene. The toll road passes through one of the greatest mining re- 
gions in the world, and the fame of Red Mountain is well deserved both from 
the number and richness of its mines. Before Ouray is reached, the road 
passes through Uncompahgre Canon. Here the roadbed has been blasted 
from the solid rock wall of the gorge, and a scene similar in nature and rivaling 
in grandeur that of Animas Canon is beheld. 



Around the Circle." 



29 



Ouray is one of the most beautifully situated towns to be found anywhere. 
Its scenery is idyllic. The village is cradled in a lovely valley surrounded by 
rugged mountains. The situation of the town is thus vividly described by 
Ernest Ingersoll in the " Crest of the Continent" : " The valley in which the 
town is built is at an elevation of about 7,500 feet above the sea, and is pear- 
shaped, its greatest width being not more than half a mile, while its length is 
about twice that, down to the mouth of the caiion. Southward — that is, to- 
ward the heart of the main range — stand the two great peaks, Hardin and 
Hayden. Between is the deep gorge down which the Uncompahgre finds its 
way ; but this ls hidden from view by a ridge which walls in the town and cuts 
off all farther view from it in that direction, save where the triangular top of 
Mount Abram peers over. Westward are grouped a series of broken ledges, 
surmounted by greater and more rugged heights. Down between these and 
the western foot of Mt. Hayden struggles Canon Creek to join the Uncom- 
pahgre, while Oak Creek leaps down a line of cataracts from a notch in the 
terraced heights through which the quadrangular head of White House Moun- 
tain becomes grandly discernible — the easternmost buttress of the wintry 
Sierra San Miguel. 

At the lower side of the basin, where the path of the river is beset with 
close canon walls, the cliffs rise vertically from the level of the village, and 
bear their forest growth many hundreds of eet above. These mighty walls, 
two thousand feet high in some places, are of metamorphic rock, and their 
even stratification simulates courses of well-ordered masonry. Stained by iron, 
and probably also by magnese, they are a deep red maroon. This color does 
not lie uniformly, however, but is stonger in some layers than in others, so 
that the whole face of the cliff is banded horizontally in pale rust color, or 
dull crimson, or deep and opaque maroon. The western cliff is bare, but on 
the more frequent ledges of the eastern wall scattered spruces grow, and add 
to its attractiveness. Yet, as though Nature meant to teach that a bit of 
motion — a suggestion of glee was needed to relieve the somberness of utter 
immobility and grandeur, however shapely — she has led to the sunlight, by a 
crevice in the upper part of the eastern wall that we cannot see, a brisk tor- 
rent draining the snowfields of some distant plateau. This little stream, 
thus beguiled by the fair channel that led it through the spruce woods above, 
has no time to think of its fate, but is flung out over the sheer precipice 
eighty feet into the valley below. We see the white ghost of its descend- 
ing, and always to our ears is murmured the voice of the Naiads who arc 
taking the breathless plunge. Yet by what means the stream reaches that 
point from above cannot be seen, and the picture is that of a strong jet of 
water bursting from an orifice through the crimson wall, and falling into rain- 
bow-arched mist and a tangle of grateful foliage that hides its further 
flowing." 




CURRECANTI NEEDLE. 



" Around the Circle." 



31 



Resuming the railroad journey at Ouray, the traveler will find much to 
interest him in the run past Ridg^vay, where the Rio Grande Southern con- 
nects with the Denver & Rio Grande, to Montrose, where the main line is 
again reached, and, with faces turned once more to the eastward, the home- 
ward segment of the " circle " is entered upon, and the greatest wonders of 
all this wonderful journey lie before. From Cerro Summit a fine view can be 
had of the Uncompahgre Valley, its river, and the distant peaks of the San 
Juan and Uncompahgre ranges of mountains. Cimarron Canon is entered 
shortly after leaving Cerro Summit, the road following this canon down Cim- 
arron Creek to where it empties into the Gunnison river. Here begins the 
tourist's experience in the world-renowned Black Canon of the Gunnison. 
The name is a misnomer. There is nothing black about the canon except 
the shadows of the towering granite walls. The cliffs themselves show bright 
and happy colors. Gay contrasts of pink and blue, bright complements of 
red and maroon, all shades blended and differentiated, dashed on here and 
there as with the broad, free-handed sweep of some master scenic painter. 
The scene is varied, kaleidoscopic, constantly chaneing. Here the train 
rolls along between frowning and exalted walls : there a stream of water, 
Chippeta Falls, white as wool, pitches from the brow of a precipice two 
thousand feet above ; yonder a side canon yawns with capacious mouth as if 
to engulf us. Now we are in a spacious amphitheater, in the center of which 
stands a tremendous monument of solid stone, a spire graceful as if hewn by 
the hand of a Gothic builder, and terminating in a sky-piercing pinnacle. 
This is the famed Currecanti Needle." Thus for twenty miles the ever- 
changing variety of the Black Canon hojds the awe-stricken attention of the 
traveler. At last the train rolls out into the valley of the Gunnison, and 
pastoral scenes take the place of the tumultuous grandeur just beheld. 

But soon a new marvel demands attention. The ascent of Marshall Pass 
is just begun. We have just gone through the mountains, now we are to (xo 
over them. The Pacific slope is now to be achieved. Two powerful engines 
puff vigorously and take us spinning up the ringing grooves of this marvelous 
road, climbing grades of 211 feet to the mile with as much apparent ease as 
though we were traversing the level plain. What a varied panorama of 
mountain views meets the gaze, and when the summit is reached. 10,852 feet 
above the distant sea, the train pauses and the eye sweeps the prospect as far 
as vision reaches. To the right, fading away into the blue distance, can be 
seen the serrated range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, snow-covcrcd 
pyramids of transcendent beauty. To the left towers fire- scarred Mount 
Ouray, a volcano whose fires died out ages ago, while opposite stands its 
companion peak, Mount Shaveno. Beneath is the pathway of our ascent, 
four lines in view, each one an ascending circle of our tortuous upward 
journey. 



CATHEDRAL SPIRE. 



"Around the Circle." 



33 



Half a dozen revolutions of the wheels and we are on the Atlantic slope. 
The waters all run to the eastward now. One engine holds the train in 
check. There are no smoke and cinders. Pneumatic breaks skillfully 
applied by the engineer control the power of gravitation, which is the sole 
force needed to carry the long train down its winding way. The sinuosity of 
the descent is something indescribable. A glance at the illustration of the 
alignment of the road over Marshall Pass will convey a better idea than any- 
thing that could be said. The descent is ended at Poncha Springs, and the 
train enters the valley of the Arkansas. 

At Poncha are some of the most remarkable hot springs to be found any- 
where in the West. There are over one hundred of these springs ; the water 
varies in temperature from 90 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. The analysis of the 
Poncha Springs corresponds almost exactly with that of the waters of the Hot 
Springs in Arkansas. 

From the Arkansas Valley can be obtained a fine view of the Collegiate 
range of mountains, including the peaks of Harvard, Yale and Princeton, all 
of which reach an altitude greater than fourteen thousand feet. 

The crowning attraction, the wonder of wonders, the marvel of marvels, 
yet remains to be seen. The Grand Canon of the Arkansas lies before us. 
There are no words in the language which can describe this canon. There 
are no pigments on the artist's palette that can paint it ; it is indescribable 
and entirely heyond the reach of mimetic art. The Grand Canon is seven 
miles in length — seven miles of wonders, seven miles of the grandest, most 
awful scenery in the world. To the right boils and surges the Arkansas River, 
above which tower the red rocks of the canon. To the left are cliffs, jutting 
in places above the track, and rising to tremendous and awe-inspiring heights. 
The progress down the canon is by means of many intricate curves, and it 
seems as though the engine would dash itself to atoms against the cliffs, but 
each time a slight turn is made and the train rounds the promontory in safety. 
Soon the tourist finds himself in the heart of the mountain. Peak upon 
peak rises above him, until the splintered summits seem to touch the sky. 
Darker and darker grow the shadows, narrower and still more narrow grows 
the gorge, deeper and deeper grows the gloom, the river ceases its roaring, 
the noise of the train is hardly perceptible, for the engineer has "slowed up," 
and the Royal Gorge is at hand. Here the canon is not wide enough for 
road and river, and here is one of the most remarkable feats of engineering. 
Right across the gorge, fifty feet wide at the base and perhaps seventy at the 
summit, which soars above to a height of nearly three thousand feet, a 
series of great iron braces has been thrown, from which huge iron bars de- 
pend, holding a long iron bridge in suspension, that clings to the face of the 
cliff, and runs, not across, but parallel with the course of the river. The eye 



''Around the Circle/' 



35 



can scarcely comprehend the stupendous height of the perpendicular cliffs 
whose summits pierce the heavens half a mile above our heads. 

After beholding the Royal Gorge the traveler has a superlative comparison 
for all that is wonderful and grand in nature. He has seen something which 
he can never forget, and of the many marvels of this mar\-elous journey 
"Around the Circle," the greatest of them all, the crowning glory, is the 
Royal Gorge. 

It will not be inappropriate to make some special mention of several of 
the more important points of interest on the circle tour, and we add below a 
short description of the ''Royal ^Gorge," " Toltec Gorge," "Animas 
Canon," " Black Canon of the Gunnison," and the " Marshall Pass." 

THE BLACK CAXOxN. 

In all the world there is no place so beautiful, imposing, sublime and awful, 
that may be so easy and comfortably visited, as the Black Canon, for the iron 
horse of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad has a pathway through the canon, 
and he draws after him coaches as handsome and pleasant as those which he 
draws on the level plain. Along many miles of this grand gorge the railroad 
lies upon a shelf that has been blasted in the solid walls of God's masonry ; 
walls that stand sheer two thousand feet in height, and so close together that 
for most of the distance through the canon only a streak of sky, sometimes in 
broad daylight, spangled with stars, is seen above. 

"I'll look no more ; 
I.est my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong." 

Unlike many of the Colorado canons, the scenery in this one is kaleido- 
scopic, ever changing. Here the train glides along between the close, regular 
and exalted walls then suddenly it passes the mouth of another mighty canon 
which looks as if it were a great gateway to an unroofed arcade leading from 
the pathway of some monstrous giant. Now, at a sharp turn, Chippcta 
Falls, a stream of liquid crystal, pitches from the top of the dizzy cliffs to the 
bosom ol the sparkling river which dashes beside the road. Then a spacious 
amphitheater is passed, in the centre of which stands Currecanti Needle, 
solitary and alone, a towering monument of solid stone, which reaches to 
where it flaunts the clouds, like some great cathedral spire. Truly there is 
no gorge in all the Rocky range that presents such variety and grandeur as 
the Black CaHon of the Gunnison. 




TOLTEC GOKGE. 



"Around the Circle." 



37 



MARSHALL PASS. 



Marshall Pass is entered almost imperceptibly from Poncha Pass, and the 
whole wonderful ascent might very readily be imagined as one and the same. 
The summit is almost eleven thousand feet above the sea, and the tortuous 
method by which the daring engineers of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad 
have achieved this summit can best be understood by a glance at the cut 
illustratmg the alignment of the track, shown on another page. As the train 
progresses up the steep the view becomes less obstructed by mountain sides 
and the eye roams over miles of cone-shaped summits. The timberless tops 
of towering ranges show him that he is among the heights and in a region 
familiar with the clouds. Then he beholds, stretching away to the left, the 
most perfect of all, the Sierras. The sunlight falls with a white, transfiguring 
radiance upon the snow-crowned spires of the Sangre de Cristo range. Their 
sharp and dazzling pyramids, which near at hand are clearly defined, extend 
to the southward until cloud and sky and snowy peak commingle and form a 
vague and bewildering vision. To the right towers the fire-scarred front of 
old Ouray, grand, solitary and forbidding. Ouray holds the pass, standing 
sentinel at the rocky gateway to the fertile Gunnison. Slowly the steeps are 
conquered, until at last the train halts upon the summit of the continental 
divide which separates the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific. The traveler 
looks down upon four lines of road, terrace beyond terrace, the last so far be- 
low as to be quite indistinct to view. Wonder at the triumphs of engineer- 
ing skill is strangely mingled with the feelings of awe and admiration at the 
stupendous grandeur of the scene. 



TOLTEC GORGE. 



The approach to this great scenic wonder prepares the traveler for some- 
thing extraordinary and spectacular. A black speck in the distance against 
the precipitous surface of a frowning cliff is beheld long before Toltcc is 
reached, and is pointed out as the entrance to the tunnel, which is the gate- 
way to the Gorge. As the advance is made around mountain spurs and deep 
ravines, glimpses are caught of profound depths and towering heights, the 
black speck widens into a yawning portcullis, and then the train, making a 
detour of four miles around a side canon, plunges into the blackness of Toltcc 
tunnel, which is remarkable in that it pierces the summit of the mountain 



"Around the Circle." 



39 



instead of its base. Fifteen hundred feet of perpendicular descent would 
take one to the bottom of the gorge, while the seared and wrinkled expanse 
of the opposite wall confronts us, lifting its massive bulwarks high above us, 

" Fronting heaven's splendor, 
Strong and full and clear." 

When the train emerges from the tunnel it is upon the brink of a 
precipice. A solid bridge of trestle-work, set in the rock after the manner of 
a balcony, supports the track, and from this coigne of vantage the traveler 
beholds a most thrilling spectacle. The tremendous gorge, whose sides are 
splintered rocks and monumental crags, and whose depths are tilled with the 
snow-white waters of a foaming torrent, lies beneath him, the blue sky above 
him, and all around the majesty and mystery of the mountains. 

ANIMAS CANON. 

Animas Cafion is one of the wildest and most picturesque gorges in the 
Rocky Mountains. Through it the Rio de las Animas Perdidas, or " River 
of Lost Souls," finds its way to the valley below. For a dozen miles north of 
Uurango the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad traverses the fertile and culti- 
vated valley of the Animas in its approach to the canon. Soon the valley be- 
comes more broken and contracted, the approaching walls grow more pre- 
cipitous and the smooth meadows give place to stately pines and sighing 
sycamores. The silvery Animas frets in its narrowing bed and breaks into 
foam against the opposing boulders. The road climbs and clings to the rising 
cliffs, and presently the earth and stately pines have receded and the train 
rolls along a mere granite shelf in mid-air. Above, the vertical wall rises a 
thousand feet ; below, hundreds of feet of perpendicular depth and a fathom- 
less river. The canon is here a mere rent in the mountain, so narrow one 
may toss a pebble across, and the cramped stream has assumed the deep 
emerald hue of the ocean. In the shadows of the rocks, all is solitary, and 
weird, and awful. The startled traveler quickly loses all apprehension in the 
wondrous beauty and grandeur of the scene, and, as successive curves repeat 
and enhance the enchantment, nature asserts herself in ecstacy. Emerging 
from the marvelous gorge, the bed of the cafion rapidly rises, until the road- 
way is but a few feet above the stream. Dark walls of rock are replaced with 
clustering mountains of supreme height, whose abruptness defies the foot of 
man, and The Needles, the most pecuUar and striking of the Rockies, thrust 
their splintered pinnacles into the region of perpetual snow. 



"Around the Circle. 



41 



THE ROYAL GORGE. 

The crowning wonder of this wonderful Denver & Rio Grande Raih'oad 
is the Royal Gorge. Situated between Canon City and Salida, it is easy ot 
access either from Denver or Pueblo. After the entrance to the canon has 
been made, surprise and almost terror comes. The train rolls round a long 
curve close under a wall of black and banded granite, beside which the pon- 
derous locomotive shrinks to a mere dot, as if swinging on some pivot in the 
heart of the mountain, or captured by a centripetal force that would never 
resign its grasp. Almost a whole circle is accomplished, and the grand amphi- 
theatrical sweep of the wall shows no break in its zenith-cutting facade. 
Will the journey end here ? Is it a mistake that this crevice goes through the 
range ? Does not all this mad water gush from some powerful spring, or 
boil out of a subterranean channel impenetrable to us? No, it opens. Re- 
sisting centripetal, centrifugal force claims the train, and it breaks away at a 
tangent past the edge or around the corner of the great black wall which 
compelled its detour and that of the river before it. Now what glories of rock 
piling confront the wide-distended eye ! How those sharp-edged cliffs, 
standing with upright heads that play a handball with the clouds, alternate 
with one another, so that first the right, then the left, then the right one be- 
yond strike our view, each one half obscured by its fellow in front, each showing 
itself level browed with its comrades as we come even with it, each a score of 
hundreds of dizzy feet in height, rising perpendicularly from the water and 
the track, splintered atop into airy pinnacles, braced behind against the al- 
most continental mass through which the chasm has been cleft. This is the 
Royal Gorge. 

The following is a description of the points of interest in the exact order 
on the Trip Around the Circle, starting from Denver : 

Castle Rock. — 32 miles from Denver, east side of track. A bold and 
remarkable promontory rising from the plain. 

Casa Blanca.— 50 miles from Denver, between Greenland station and 
Palmer Lake, west side of track. An enormous white rock, 1,000 feet long 
and 200 feet high, presenting the appearance of a castle. 

Palmer I.<ake. — 52 miles from Denver. A beautiful sheet of water 
on the exact summit of the Divide, altitude 7,238 feet. 



"Around the Circle." 



43 



Glen Park..— Half mile south of Palmer Lake, west side of track. 
Colorado's Chautauqua. 

Phoebe's Arch. — One mile south of Palmer Lake, east side of track. 
A natural archway through a massive, castled rock of red sandstone. 

Monument Park.— 65 miles from Denver, distant view, west side of 
track, from Edgerton station. A natural park filled with fantastic and imita- 
tive rock formations. 

Pike's Peak.— 75 miles from Denver, 5 miles from Colorado Springs. 
The most famous peak of the Rockies, altitude 14,147 feet. Easy of ascent 
from Manitou. 

3Ianitou Springs.— Manitou branch, 80 miles from Denver, 5 miles 
from Colorado Springs. The Saratoga of the West. Popular summer resort, 
wonderful effer\-escent and medicinal springs. Surrounded by more objects 
of interest than any other pleasure resort in the world, including Garden of 
the Gods," " Glen Eyrie," "Red Rock Canon," "Crystal Park," '-Engle- 
man's Canon," "William's Cafion," "Manitou Grand Caverns,"' " Cave of 
the Winds," " Ute Pass," " Rainbow Falls," and " Bear Creek Canon." 

Garden of the Gods.— Manitou branch. One and one-half miles 
from Manitou. Famous the world over as a most interesting and wonderful 
park, abounding in strange and majestic rock forms. 

Cheyenne ^fountain. — Two miles south of Colorado Springs. One 
of the most beautiful of the Rocky Mountains, in which are the Cheyenne 
Canons and the Seven Falls. Near the summit of this mountain is the 
burial place of the author and poet, " H. H." 

Spanish Peaks. — Two twin peaks rising from the plains, without any 
foothills, forming a most striking picture. \'isible all the way, to the east- 
ward, from Pueblo until the descent of \'eta Pass into the San Luis Valley is 
begun. Height of peaks respectively, 13,620 and 12,720 feet. 

Sierra Blanca. — This monarch of all the Rocky Mountains, and the 
loftiest in the United States with but one exception, can be seen from Gar- 
land station, and remains in full view until the San Luis Park is left behind. 
Elevation, 14,464 feet. 

Wagon Wiieel Gap. — Del Norte branch. The hot springs of the 
Wagon Wheel Gap are famous for their curative cjualities. The place is 
exceedingly picturesque and has become a favorite health and pleasure resort. 
The best trout fishing in the West. Distance from Denver, 310 miles. 
Elevation, 8448 feet. 



''Around the Circle." 



45 



Creede. — Del Xorte branch. New mining camp of great promise. 
Population 8,000. The latest and greatest mineral discovery. 

Entrance to tlie Gap.— Del Norte branch. The gap proper is a 
cleft through a great hill with walls suggesting the palisades of the Hudson 
and of about the same height. Through this gap flows the waters of the Rio 
Grande del Norte, bright and sparkling, fresh from their mountain sources. 

San Luis Parfe. — This park or valley is one hundred miles long by 
sixty broad, altitude 7,000 feet, surrounded by mountains from 4,000 to 7,000 
feet higher than the plain. The soil is fertile, and by irrigation is being de- 
veloped into a fine agricultural region. Distance from Denver, 250 miles. 

Pbantom Curve.— After Sublette, 305 miles from Denver, has been 
passed, the road makes a great bend around the side of a mountain ; on the 
left rise tall monuments of sandstone cut by the elements into the form of 
weird and fantastic figures ; this has been appropriately named " Phantom 
Cur^•e." 

Toltec Gorg'e.— From Big Horn, distant 298 miles from Denver, to 
Cumbres, there is a succession of magnificent and awe-inspirmg views. About 
midway between the two, at Toltec station, 309 miles from Denver, is Toltec 
Gorge. The road traverses the verge of this great chasm, the bottom of 
which is 1,500 feet below. The best view is on the bridge immediately after 
passing through Toltec Tunnel. 

Oarlield ]>Ieniorial.— Just beyond the bridge at Toltec Gorge stands 
a monument of granite in memory of President Garfield. On the 26th day 
of September, 1881, the National Association of General Passenger Agents, 
at the time President Garfield was being buried in Cleveland, held memorial 
services at the mouth of Toltec Tunnel, and since have erected this beautiful 
monument in memory of the event. 

Cumbre§ Summit. — Distant from Denver, 329 miles. Summit of the 
Conejos range. Elevation, 10,014 feet. 

Trimble Hot Springs. — Health and pleasure resort, 459 miles from 
Denver, 9 miles from Durango and 36 miles from Silverton. The springs are 
noted for their strong remedial character. Elevation, 6,644 f<-"et. 

Animas Canon.— Just beyond Rockwood, 469 miles from Denver, the 
Animas Canon begins. This gorge is formed by the breaking through the 
range of the Rio de las Animas Perdidas. The road is built along a shelf cut 
in the solid rock-wall of the canon, which towers 500 feet above and drops 
1,000 feet below the track. In this it differs from all other scenes on the line. 



''Around the Circle." 



47 



The Xeedles. — After emerging from the western extremity oi Animas 
Canon, the traveler can see The Needle Mountains, the most peculiar and 
striking of the Rockies, thrusting their splintered pinnacles into the regions of 
perpetual snow. 

Elk Park. — Animas Caiion having been passed, the road enters Elk 
Park, a beautiful little valley in the midst of the range, a spot rich in material 
for the artist in search of new impressions. 

Garfield Peak. — At the western extremity of Elk Park rises Garfield 
Peak, a grand and impressive mountain towering to a height of a mile above 
the track. 

Sultan Mountain.— Silverton, the terminus of this branch of the 
line, is 495 miles from Denver. It is surrounded by mountains rich in min- 
eral-bearing mines. One of the most picturesque of these is Sultan Moun- 
tain, which reaches an elevation of 14,115 feet. 

Ouray. — Picturesque mountain town. Hot springs of medicinal prop- 
erties make this a resort for health and pleasure. The mines surrounding 
Ouray are among the richest in Colorado. Population, 3,000. Distance from 
Denver, 388 miles. Elevation, 7,640 feet. 

EjOS Pinos Agency. — The ruins of the old Los Pinos Agency can 
be seen 13 miles from Montrose. The old store house and council chamber 
are still standing. 

Cantonment of the L nconipaligre.— Nine miles from Mon- 
trose the road passes the Government post, where soldiers are still stationed. 

Chippeta's Home.— Four miles from Montrose can still be seen the 
late residence of Chippeta, the widow of Ouray, the dead Ute chief, who 
was always the friend of the white man. 

L^ncompaligre Mountains.— After passing Montrose, 353 miles 
from Denver, a fine view of the Uncompahgre Mountains, extending to the 
southwest, can be obtained. L'ncompahgre Peak, the monarch of the range, 
rises to an altitude of 14,235 feet. 

Cerro Summit. — The ascent is commenced directly after leaving 
Cimarron station on the westward journey. From here the Uncompahgre 
Valley, its river and the distant, picturesque peaks of the San Juan are within 
full sight of the traveler. 

Cimarron Canon. — Western entrance to Black Canon, the road 
passing up Cimarron Creek, where it debouches in the Gunnison. The 
Cimarron abounds in trout and the country round about swarms with large 
game. 



"Around the Circle." 



49 



Currecanti IVeedle. — Situated in a spacious amphitheater, midway 
of the Black Canon, this curious monohth towers upward Hke a great cathe- 
dral spire. 

Cbippeta Falls.— A beautiful waterfall near the east end of Black 
Canon, that plunges from the summit of the canon wall, descending in a 
sheet of snowy spray to the Gunnison River below. 

Black Canon. — Twenty-five miles west from Gunnison. Along many 
miles of this grand gorge the railroad lies upon a shelf hewn from the living 
rock, which rises frequently to an altitude of over two thousand feet. The 
cafion is sixteen miles in length, and abounds in many striking features. 

Gunnison River and Vallej'. — Just after passing Gunnison City, 
290 miles from Denver, the valley of the Gunnison is entered, and upon the 
right, as one journeys westward, flows the beautiful Gunnison river. 

Mount Sliavano. — Shavano is a companion to Mount Ouray, and 
rises on the opposite side of the track to an altitude of 14,238 feet. 

Mount Ouray.— At the summit of Marshall Pass, 242 miles from 
Denver. An extinct volcano whose crater can be plainly seen. Altitude 
14,043 feet. 

Marshall Pass. — Begins six miles from Poncha Junction, at Mears 
Junction. The summit of the Pass has an altitude of 10,852 feet. From 
this point a magnificent view can be had of the Sangre de Cristo range 
extending to the southeast. The pass is a scenic and a scientific wonder, 
grades of 211 feet to the mile are frequent, and the ascent and descent are 
made by a series of most remarkable curves. The streams from the summit 
flow eastward into the Atlantic and westward into the Pacific. 

Ponclia Pass. — Two miles from Poncha Junction ; leads up to Mar- 
shall Pass. 

Poncha Spring's. — Five miles from Salida. Noted hot springs. 
Temperature of the water varies in the different springs, 100 in number, from 
908 to 185^ Fahrenheit. A great health resort. Altitude, 7.480 feet. 

Arkansas River and Valley. — The railroad crosses the Arkansas 
River at Salida, and from the bridge, and until the town of Poncha Springs 
has been passed, a fine view can be had of the river and its fertile valley. 

• Colleg'late Peaks. — Harvard, Yale and Princeton peaks, plainly 
seen from the vicinity of Salida to the northwest. Altitude, respectively, 
14,383 feet, 14.101 feet, 14,199 leet. 




BEAR CREEK FALLS. 



"Around the Circle." 



51 



Sangre de Cristo Range.— On approaching Salida, near the west- 
em end of the Grand Canon, there is a break in the walls through which fine 
pictures of the Sangre de Cristo peaks present themselves. 

The Royal Gorge.— The climax of all the grandeur of the Grand 
Canon of the Arkansas lies midway in this wonderful chasm. The best 
view can be obtained from the famous hanging bridge. Here the walls of 
the canon rise to a perpendicular height of 2,600 feet above the track. 

Grand Canon of the Arkansas. — 165 miles from Denver, be- 
tween Canon City and Parkdale. eight miles long. The world-famed chasm 
through which the river makes its way to the plains. 

The following points of interest are located on the line of the Rio Grande 
Southern Railroad between Durango and Ridgway : 

CliflT Dwellings. — Those interesting ruins are located in the Mancos 
Canon and the Montezuma \'alley, some twenty miles to the south of Mancos 
station, and easily accessible from that point by a delightful drive over a 
mountain road. A journey to this historic spot will well repay the time and 
trouble it would involve. Teams with guides and drivers can be engaged at 
Mancos. 

Lost Canon. — This small canon is between Mancos and Dolores, and 
hough not so long or high as numbers of others in the Circle tour, is none the 
less interesting, as it possesses many novelties in the way of mountain 
scenery. 

Dolores Canon.— While this canon is not particularly deep, its 
natural beauties are manifold, and are sure to make a lasting impression on 
the beholder. This canon is passed just before arriving at Rico. 

Rico. — An important mining town of some 2,000 inhabitants, beautifully 
situated in the center of a huge amphitheater of high, snow-capped moun- 
tains. 

Lizard Head Pass.— A mountain pass similar to Marshall Pass, 
crossing the Uncompahgre Range at an elevation of 10,248 feet. The ser- 
pentine windings of the railroad up the mountain sides are full of interest. 

Lizard Head. — A peculiar rock formation at the summit of the pass 
of the same name resembling the head of a mountain lizard. 

Trout Lake.— A beautiful little lake of clear, cold mountain water, 
filled with thousands of trout. Good accommodations for the sportsman are 
near at hand, and a few days can be pleasantly spent here. 



" Around the Circle.'' 



53 



The Optair L.oop. — The descent down the mountain side after leav- 
ing Trout Lake is called as above, and is one of the most daring and intricate 
pieces of railroad engineering that exists in the world. 

Telluride. — Telluride is located on a branch from the main line some 
ten miles away. It is surrounded on all sides by high mountains whose faces 
are potted with innumerable mines, whose product is the chief source of rev- 
enue to the 2,500 inhabitants of this beautiful mountain town. 

San ]>li^uel River. — Leaving Vance Junction, the line follows the 
course of the San Miguel River through the beautiful Shenandoah V.alley. 

The Dallas Divide. — This divide is over a spur of the Uncompahgre 
Range on grades of three and tour per cent. Leaving the summit, going 
eastward toward Ridgway and to the right of the train, is the main range of 
the Uncompahgre with its soft shaded sides towering into splintered pinnacles 
above. 

Ridg'way. — The northern termmus of the Rio Grande Southern Rail- 
road and the junction of that road and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad ; a 
city of some 1,500 inhabitants. Here are located the round-houses and the 
shops of the Rio Gr nde Southern, giving employment to hundreds of ma- 
chinists and laborers. 



HEALTH AND PLEASURE RESORTS OF THE ROCKY 

MOUNTAINS. 



Located on the Line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. 



On or Easily Reaehed from the ''Aronnd tbe Circle" Trip. 



MINERAL SPRINGS. 



Manitou Springs - Soda and iron. 

Pueblo Magnetic well. 

Parnassus Alkaline. 

Carlile Soda. 

Canon City Soda. 

Royal Gorge. Hot springs. 

Wellsville Hot springs. 

Poncha ...Hot springs. 

Waunita Hot springs. 

Ouray _ Hot springs. 

Salt Lake City Hot sulphur. 

Buena Vista Cottonwood hot springs. 

Hejwjod .Hot springs. 

Leadville Soda springs. 

Siloam Springs Hot springs. 

Steamboat Springs Hot sulphur, iron and soda. 

Glenwood Springs ___ Hot sulphur. 

Wagon Wheel Gap Hot springs. 

Antelope Springs... ..Hot and cold. 

Pagosa Hot springs. 

Ojo Caliente Hot springs. 

Trimble Hot springs. 



PLEASURE RESORTS. 

Perry Park Buena Vista Ouray 

Glen Park Twin Lakes Provo 

Diana Park Glenwood Springs Lake Park 

Manitou La Veta Cottonwood Lake 

Beula Palmer Lake Evergreen Lakes 

Salida Monument Park Steamboat Springs 

Lake City Colorado Springs Wagon Wheel Gap 

Cimarron Canon City Trimble Springs 

Salt Lake City • Poncha Springs Antelope Springs 

Trout Lake Rico Telluride 

54 



MOUNTAIK PEAKS AND PASSES OF COLORADO. 



With Their EleTation Above Sea-I^eTel. 



FEET. 

Elanca 14,464 

Har\-ard _ 14,383 

Massive 14,368 

Gray's I4,34i 

Rosalie _ 14.340 

Torrey — 14-336 

Elbert 14,326 

La Plata 14,302 

Lincoln 14,297 

Buckskin 14,296 

Wilson 14,280 

Long's 14,271 

Quandary 14,269 

Antero 14.245 

James 14,242 

Shavano 14.238 

Uncompahgre 14. 235 

Crestones 14-233 

Princeton 14,199 

Mount Bross 14,185 

Holy Cross 14,176 

Baldy 14,176 

Sneffles 14,158 

Pike's 14,147 

Castle 14,106 

Yale 14,101 



FEET. 



San Luis 14,100 

Red Cloud 14,092 

Wetterhorn 14,069 

Simpson 14.055 

.iEolus 14.054 

Ouray 14.043 

Stewart 14.032 

Maroon 14,000 

Cameron 14,000 

Handie 13-997 

Capitol 13.992 

Horseshoe 13,988 

Snowmass 13,961 

Grizzly 13.956 

Pigeon 13,928 

Blane 13.905 

Frustum 13,883 

Pyramid 13,895 

White Rock « 3-847 

Hague 13,832 

R. G. Pyramid 13, 773 

Silver Heels 13-766 

Hunchback 13-755 

Rowter I3,750 

Homestake 13,687 

Ojo 13,640 



FEET. 



Spanish 13,620, 12,720 

Guyot 13,566 

Trinchara 13-546 

Kendall 13.542 

Buffalo 13.541 

Arapahoe 13,520 

Dunn 13,502 

Bellevue 11,000 

Alpine Pass 13.550 

Argentine Pass 13,100 

Cochetopa Pass 10.032 

Hayden Pass 10,780 

Trout Creek Pass... 9,346 

Berthoud Pass ii,349 

Marshall Pass 10,852 

Veta Pass 9,392 

Poncha Pass. 8.945 

Tennessee Pass 10,418 

Tarryall Pass 12,176 

Breckenridge Pass.. 9,490 

Cottonwood Pass 13,500 

Fremont Pass i-,540 

Mosquito Pass 13,700 

Ute Pass 11,200 

Lizzro Head Pass... 10.24& 



Seventy-two peaks between 13,500 and 14,300 feet in height are unnamed 
and not in this Hst. 



ELEVATION OF LAKES. 



FEET. 

Twin Lakes 9,367 

Grand Lake 8,153 

Green Lakes 10,000 



FEET. 

Chicago Lakes 11,500 

Evergreen Lakes... 10,500 

Seven Lakes 11.806 

55 



FEET. 

Palmer Lake 7,238 

Cottonwood Lake... 7,700 
Trout Lake 9,800 



ALTITUDE OF TOWNS AND CITIES. 



Revised Since First Edition From Engrineers* Measarements. 



FEET. 

Alamosa 7,546 

Animas City 6,554 

Animas Forks 11,200 

Antonito 7,888 

Aspen 7,775 

Buena Vista 7,970 

Cation City 5,344 

Castle Rock 6,220 

Colorado Springs... 5,992 

Crested Butte 8,875 

Conejos 7,880 

Cottonwood Springs. 7,950 

Cuchara 5,943 

Cumbres 10,015 

Delta 41963 

Del Norte 7,880 

Denver 5,196 

Durango 6,520 

El Moro 5,879 



FEET. 

Ft. Garland 7,936 

Granite 8,945 

Grand Junction 4,583 

Gunnison 7,680 

Glenwood Springs.. 5,200 

Howardsville 9,700 

Irwin 10,500 

Kokofno 10,631 

Lake City 8,550 

L,a Veta 7,024 

Leadville 10,200 

Las Pinos 9,637 

Montrose 5,793 

Malta 9,580 

Manitou 6,324 

Ojo Caliente 7,324 

Ouray 7,640 

Ogden, Utah 4,286 

Pogosa Springs 7,108 



Pinos, Chama Sum^ 

mit 9,902 

Poncha Springs 7,480 

Palmer Lake 7,238 

Pueblo 4,669 

Red Cliff. 8,671 

Rico 8,735 

Robinson 10,871 

Rosita 8,500 

Ruby Camp 10,500 

Saguache 7,723 

Salt Lake City 4,228 

Silver Cliflf 7,816 

Silverton 9,224 

Salida.. 7,050 

Telluride 8,758 

Trimble Springs 6,644 

WestclifFe 7,864 

"Wagon Wheel Gap. 8,448 



INFORMATION FOR TOURISTS. 

Tickets will be placed on sale May i, and continued until October 31. 
Tickets for the journey "Around the Circle" will be sold for $28.00 from 

Denver, Colorado Springs, Manitou and Pueblo. 
Tickets will be good thirty days from date of sale. 

Stop-overs will be allowed at any point or points on the trip for any length 

of time within the life of the ticket. 
Side trips can be taken to any point on the line, not covered by the round 

trip, at one-half the regular rates. 
The purchaser can have choice of route, going either via Silverton and 

Ouray or Montrose and Ouray, or via the Rio Grande Southern R. R. 
The journey "Around the Circle" can be comfortably made in four days, 

with rests at Durango, Silverton and Ouray. Or the entire thirty days 

can be profitably and pleasantly spent in viewing the wonderful scenery 

of the trip. 



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